Victoria Carter, co-founder of CityHop – New Zealand’s first car share company and one of our JUCY Directors went on a family road trip in late November around the lower South Island of New Zealand. Victoria shares the highlights of this road trip in some JUCY Wheels! Check out the beautiful pictures of New Zealand and start planning your next road trip. Enjoy! Love, Lucy xx
Our family which consists of Dad, Mum and 2 sons set off to do what we thought might be our last family holiday together. We flew to Christchurch and had barely got off the plane and made the phone call before the JUCY van was there to pick us up and take us to our luxury people-mover.
Within minutes we were off on our 45 minute drive to Terrace Downs a beautiful resort near Methven. (If you are on a budget there is lots of well priced accommodation at Methven). We were there for a competitive game of golf! The views of the mountains were impressive. The drive over the Rakaia, with its wide turquoise waters stunning. Below are some photos of the view from one of the holes.
The weather was stunning, although we thought the name of the area, Windwhistle was most apt! If you want to see where this is check it out on Google Maps here
After two days at Terrace Downs we set off via a back road around Lake Coleridge to head for Arthur’s Pass. It was windy and wild outside and we knew rain was ahead.
The drive was interesting, so much rugged countryside, windswept, barely anything able to grow. Then as we headed onto West Coast Road we began to see the amazing geographic features of the landscape. Chris Booth type rock sculptures appeared at Castle Rock. We decided this was a bit like NZ’s own Stonehenge!
The closer we got to Arthur’s Pass the more rain arrived. We kept criss-crossing over railway lines and the Scenic Train was alongside so we no sooner overtook it before we were at a crossing and forced to wait for it to pass! There was only one word to describe the pre-dominant feature of this drive – waterfalls and more waterfalls! Spectacular, there were even some huge concrete roof structures to channel the water over the highway and into a gully!
With all the rain coming down the drive through Arthur’s Pass and the amazing viaduct the waterfalls were in full glory!
Lots of green and purple JUCY campas on the road!
Roughly two and a half hours later, with tummies rumbling we rolled into Hokitika. We knew what we were looking for! A café with whitebait fritters. We weren’t disappointed. Café 39 did us proud! A huge pattie between fresh white bread! We looked in a few greenstone shops and bought a pendant from one.
We hit the road knowing that we still had 1 ¾ hours driving to reach Franz Josef Glacier. We stopped beside one wide river to get some fresh air, stretch the legs and look for rocks. There were some amazing colours in the rocks.
We were on route to Glenfern Villas, about 5 minutes drive out of Franz Josef, a self contained cottage – reminded me of Ohakuna. A frame type accommodation, compact and basic. Suited us perfectly for one night. The mountain view that the unit boasted was not to be for the time we were there – a thick cloud hid Mt Cook!
After unpacking we decided we needed some fresh air before dinner so we headed off to walk to the Glacier. It was a very pretty scenic walk through bush, pretty streams, before you come out of the bush and the impressive sight of the Glacier looms in front of you. An easy walk to near the base is possible.
Our host at Glenfern had recommended the Alice May for a meal. A charming restaurant filled with old-fashioned memorabilia, warm fire, great service and delicious food.
Next day we headed further south to see the Fox Glacier, a short drive away. We had read this was a more impressive Glacier, but we couldn’t say which was best. We thought it was amazing to see both. This walk was a bit more up and down dale to get to a vantage point to see the Glacier. We chose not to do a tour because of time.
We had a long day of driving before we eventually got to Queenstown but we knew it was going to be a beautiful drive. The sun was out and the rivers were all sparkling blue.
If the day before had been the waterfall day, today was the creek day. We passed endless signs with creeks and laughed that most of them seemed to be originally called stony creek! Other unusual names were Hostel Creek, Jacobs, Doughboy, Mi-Mi, Dicks Creek, Random Creek, Chinaman.
The Haast river is vast, wide and beautiful. State Highway 6 follows virtually the complete length of the river, with a bridge near the coast, just after the turnoff to the Haast township. The 737 one-way bridge over the Haast, is the longest one-lane road bridge in New Zealand.
Not far from Haast, and it’s definitely worth waiting for, is Curly Tree Whitebait company. Don’t be like me, see the sign and think road looks too rough and the food could be dodgy. Fortunately my husband doesn’t think the same way, he saw the sign, took the turn-off and drove the 5 minutes up the track past various beach cottages to the garage where a friendly lady manned a bbq and served fresh heavenly whitebait fritters for $7.
We bought a 500 gram bag and scoffed whitebait fritters for dinner, breakfast and lunch for another 2 days!
More beauty awaited us, as we moved into the lakes district, Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea and then onto the amazing Crown Range road that takes you to Queenstown. I thought I had the best seat and was very happy being in the back seat! The Estima has large windows and the back passenger has a wonderful view of the front and side.
We arrived in Queenstown and headed for Hotel St Moritz close to the water with stunning views of lake and the Remarkable mountains in the distance. We had a two bedroom apartment and it was perfect for a family. Well serviced, we used the washing machine and enjoyed being able to self-cook breakfast and snacks. Comfortable and fantastic location, 5 minutes from shops and restaurants. We were able to watch the Earnslaw, jet boats and the para sailers from our window.
Day 6 and we were up early to a gorgeous still day to fly into Milford Sound. We drove to the airport to meet Hank Sproull, our Captain who runs Air Milford - one of the luxurious ways to see Milford. He has three planes but the best is a large Cessna Caravan, a quiet and air-conditioned plane that fits 14. We left just after 8 am. Hank doesn’t just fly you, he gives you a wonderful commentary of what we are flying over. Most spectacular thing we did on this holiday, and would do it again and recommend it to all.
Once we arrived at Milford, we had the option of busing or walking 10 minutes to the marina, through a beautiful beech forest walkway. We chose the walk. Congratulations to the Department of Conservation - great walking paths.
Shortly after we arrived the JUCY Cruize Milford boat set off. Cameron in his JUCY sunglasses enjoying the sights, like these seals basking in the sun. Yes, even though it was December it was cool at 9 am!
Best moments? Seeing the rare yellow eyed penguin waddling over the rocks; being showered by an amazing waterfall as the boat went under it!
Day 7 Bungy Jumping Day
No holiday to Queenstown is complete with your kids being a given a chance to bungy jump! We headed off to the Kawerau Gorge, where famous AJ Hackett has a spectacular scenic jump from the bridge. Both boys said it was a highlight of their holiday. 
After all this excitement we wanted a rest day! The plan had been to drive to Invercargill and see the Catlins but we decided Queenstown was so fabulous and it was meant to be a holiday we would stay another day and relax! But not in our family.
It was off to Arrowtown to play Golf at the Arrowtown Golf Course. Guess who was playing? Mark Hadlow, one of NZ’s funniest men. He said hi and told us he was in town for the filming of the Hobbit. He plays Dori.
Time to start the journey home which meant a drive to Dunedin (roughly 3 hours 40 mins). We knew this was going to be another scenic packed drive through Cromwell, Alexandra and on. We weren’t disappointed stopping for freshly picked cherries along the way. The Clyde Dam and Roxburgh Dam were impressive and huge. We had lunch at the old Court House and checked out the market day.
This was rock country, the drive through the Otago hills had, like Castle Hill, huge boulders poking up through the soil.
We went through Etrick, when a son yelled, hey see the sign, “Yes we do have hokey pokey,” that’s the dairy in that Toyota Hilux ad where the monkey in the back wants a hokey pokey ice cream!
Sure enough it is. The Ettrick Valley is named after a similar place in Soctland and was one of the first places settlers began to grow apples.
We stayed at the Scenic Circle Southern Cross, again we had a two bedroomed apartment and we were impressed with the smart fit out of this hotel chain. Affordable internet access from a set of three computers in the lobby made a change! The hotel was right next door to the Dunedin Casino. After dinner we popped in briefly. John put $20 in the machine, he had a few spins and let me have a turn, before we knew it I’d won $70! So happily left before my luck turned!
We had two meals in Dunedin, a dreadful one at Canton in Princes St, we recommend you don’t go there. Very bad hygienic standards. A fabulous meal at Minami, a Japanese restaurant just off the Octagon.
We visited the Art Gallery which had a stunning black themed New Zealand artists exhibition. We drove to the Otago Peninsula to see the seals.
The water where the seals were playing, eating and swimming.
Then we headed up to Larnach Castle, NZ’s only castle to enjoy its gardens. 
Early afternoon it was time to return our spacious and comfortable JUCY car to the JUCY depot at the Dunedin airport for our flight back to Auckland. Pictured below looking back towards Dunedin is our JUCY Lux – for 4 people’s luggage, one set of golf clubs it was perfect. We were able to stretch out in the back and everyone felt they had lots of leg and head room ( important when you’re all tall!).
What an amazing holiday!
